Generally, a shoe is a covering for the human foot to protect and support the foot. In other words, shoes cover and shield human feet to protect and support the feet while a user wearing the shoes walks or runs.
Most conventional shoes have been made of leather or synthetic resin material, but the materials and design of the shoes provide only poor ventilation effects to the feet. Thus, when a user continuously wears the shoes for lengthy periods, the poor ventilation effects of the shoes increase the temperatures of space in the shoes, cause the interiors of the shoes to be dampish due to the perspiration of the feet, and promote an inhabitation of fungi in the shoes, resulting in an offensive odor and Athlete's foot.
To solve the above-mentioned problems, shoes having various designs to provide ventilation effects have been developed and proposed.
Some representative examples of conventional techniques relating to shoes with the ventilation effects will be described in brief as follows.
Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-144133 discloses an air circulation structure for shoe soles. The above-mentioned conventional technique provides a separate pump unit installed in a shoe to introduce outside air to the inside of the shoe sole. However, this technique is problematic in that the air circulation structure has a complex construction and does not allow for any smooth circulation of air, and may undesirably introduce impurities into the shoe.
Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-218227 discloses a shoe sole with a vent hole. This technique provides a structure to circulate air to the inside of the shoe sole using an air tube. However, this technique is problematic in that the air circulation structure has a complex construction and does not allow for any smooth circulation of air, and may undesirably introduce impurities into the shoe.
Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-229738 discloses a shoe with a ventilation unit. This technique provides both a cushion layer to function as a pump and a check valve means, thus circulating air to the lower portion of the interior of the shoe. However, the above-mentioned technique is problematic in that it provides only a complex construction without allowing for any smooth circulation of air, and cannot prevent the introduction of impurities into the shoe.